Kuldipsingh Port Facility has secured a 10-year contract from TotalEnergies EP Suriname after spending years upgrading its operations to meet international oil and gas standards.
The deal, announced on November 14, will see the company develop and operate an Integrated Logistics Base in Paramaribo to support the GranMorgu Project from early 2026.
The win follows a long period of strategic investment that began when Kuldipsingh built its own port 10 years ago to address logistics constraints associated with its hardware and construction business.
This week, Chief Executive Officer Vinood Ramkhelawan shared exclusively with OilNOW that the facility only expanded into offshore support after vessels unable to berth at Suriname’s main port were diverted to its jetty.
The shift opened a window into the oil and gas industry. Small contracts from operators like Kosmos, Petronas, Apache and Shell introduced Kuldipsingh to global safety and performance requirements. Ramkhelawan said these early campaigns were limited to bunkering, water and food supplies, but they offered a crucial learning curve. “We started to understand the industry, understand the client needs and the different requirements,” he said.
TotalEnergies trains Surinamese engineers for GranMorgu offshore operations | OilNOW
A lack of supporting industry in Suriname, especially a liquid mud plant, remained a major barrier. Most offshore work was still run from Trinidad. To change this, Kuldipsingh took the unusual step of investing in a mud plant itself, an effort Ramkhelawan described as a high-risk move for a company whose core business was construction materials.
That investment proved decisive. It attracted Halliburton during a Shell campaign aimed at cutting carbon emissions by operating entirely out of Suriname. Shell wanted to avoid the three-day sail from Trinidad, opting instead for a 16-hour route from Paramaribo. Halliburton pushed Kuldipsingh to expand its mud plant capacity, triggering further upgrades and long-term commitments.
When Shell’s campaign ended, TotalEnergies quickly switched its mud operations to Suriname as well. With warehousing, laydown space, trained staff, compliant equipment and established partnerships with companies like Halliburton, SLB, Ramps Logistics and others, Kuldipsingh became the only port fully capable of supporting the country’s expanding offshore sector.
The company now supports drilling for Chevron, Petronas and other operators. Ramkhelawan said this progression reshaped Suriname’s local content landscape.
“We took a lot of risk…We invested in services not in our core business, just to have the industry available for the operators in Suriname,” he noted. “We are a fully owned, proud Surinamese company.”
Kuldipsingh has between 150 and 200 employees, with only one expatriate left on staff. The workforce is expected to grow as the TotalEnergies contract rolls out.
TotalEnergies said the new logistics base will reduce vessel waiting times, cut fuel consumption, and lower CO₂ emissions by centralising operations.
The tender process was competitive, but Kuldipsingh’s offer ranked highest on capability and readiness. “We are honoured by the trust TotalEnergies has placed in us,” Ramkhelawan said in the contract announcement.
